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Are you stumped as to what to wear for your Family Portraits this year?

Here is our advice:

1) Decide if you want the portrait to be dressy, casual or somewhere in-between.

2) We will work with you in deciding on a location. Choosing clothes that go with the location is a must.

3) Stick with two to three main colors to work with like red, black and gray or turquoise and brown, anything that coordinates well together. The thing to keep in mind is to find coordinating colors for the whole family, not necessarily the same matching colors. Start with the person who is the hardest to choose clothes for. You may want to do this before picking colors if they have a limited color palette. Then then use the colors in their choice to determine the rest of the clothing. Layers work great in pictures. You can easily accessorize with scarves or vests or layer your clothing for the family picture! We discourage “Matching” clothing items, even for multiples, but you have the final say.

4) Avoid any items of clothing with writing or logos as these really date an image! If the clothing is noticeable in a portrait, it will become a distraction. Clothing that does not attract attention to itself should be your goal. Ladies should avoid really short sleeves, try to wear mid-length or long-sleeves. Men look best in a dress shirt and sports jacket or polo shirt or sweater.

5) Now go to every one’s closets and pull out any options in the color scheme you chose. Bring all the clothes to one room and start laying out the options. Think of who will be next to whom in the portrait as well while laying them out. Keep changing your options until you get something that you like. Keep in mind that you are looking at the group as a whole, not individual pieces. Try not to have any one item stick out too much (unless it is intentional!) You may have to go buy an item or two but by trying a bunch of different combinations, you can usually find something that works without buying a lot. We recommend you take a picture of each grouping because it is easier to see and if it stands out now it will show even more in your portrait. Clients have sometimes sent us the images of what they have in mind and we’ve given them our input.

6) Look on the web for ideas. A lot of clothing websites will have outfit ideas for you as well if you are really stuck.

7) Most importantly, don’t get worried about finding the perfect outfit for each person after all the portrait is still about the people in the clothes not the clothes themselves. Just relax and have fun.

Don’t forget to sign up for our limited (12 sessions) $60 Summer Kickoff Mini-sessions on June 28th, 2014. You’ll get 10 images available through digital download so you can print them anywhere. Call us at 812-626-1186 to get signed up, they are going to go fast!